This YouMoz entry was submitted by one of our community members. The author’s views are entirely his or her own (excluding an unlikely case of hypnosis) and may not reflect the views of Moz.

This post is addressed to all the small business SEO agencies that dreams and aspires to become leaders in their respective markets, and to all those ones that have the experience and can contribute to the ‘brainstorming’ my thoughts desire to open.

The future is now (The Hudsucker Proxy, Joel & Ethan Coen, 1994)

I always loved History and I am one of those who wanted to be an archeologist after seeing Raiders of the Lost Ark. Therefore, before trying to give my answer to the question I am proposing to all of you, I would like to remember how SEO evolved since the middle ’90s.

To help me (and to avoid a boring academic history lesson), I show you this great timeline realized and explained by Greenlight in this post, ), that has also links to many interesting sources (one being a Rand post).

Ok, did you take your time to look at the timeline? Good.

What got me thinking weren’t the facts themselves, but the bars in the middle showing the relative importance of factors in SEO over time. We see that the first bar shows just one factor (On Page SEO) and the last one six (On Page SEO, PageRank, Anchor Text, Domain Authority, Link Contest and Users Signals).

This isn't the place to discuss the relative proportion to give to each one of these factors. What is to state definitely is that now SEO no longer relies just on On Page Optimization and Link Building.SEO – as a discipline - now is something more. Something that includes techniques, knowledge and is influenced from other disciplines that weren’t so necessary once to know or understand completely: Marketing, Information Technology, Economics, Journalism, Audiovisual, Sociology, Semiotics…

Perhaps SEO is and will be the most Renaissance branch of knowledge connected to the promotion and the success of an enterprise through the Web. In this sense, SEO is or is going to be really an Art.

And here comes my answer to my own question: What will the role model for the SEO of tomorrow be?

Leonardo Da Vinci, as Michelangelo or many of the Renaissance artists, was not just a painter or engineer or a scientist or an architect or an inventor or a writer: he was all of them.

If I have to choose a role model, he would be surely the one. And he could be a role model for any SEO individual and agency:

he was an engineer (aka developer), and as an engineer he worked in Milan hired by the Duke of Milan Ludovico il Moro (somehow a VC of his times);

he was a painter (aka creativity), and we all know him because of his masterpieces;

he was an inventor (aka entrepreneur), and he’s considered the moral father of flying, of submarines, of the use of the solar energy and created the first mechanical calculator;

he was a writer (aka communicator).

And my list could continue.

You are maybe thinking that to have Leonardo as a role model is pretentious. Maybe you are right. But my focus is not to be Leonardo, but to be Leonardesque in my approach to life and to SEO & Web Marketing.

And I did mine these thought of Leonardo:

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do.

and

Learning never exhausts the mind.

But one thing I like to remember as well: also the simplest thing if pursued with perseverance can mean your success.

Or just think about Norville Barnes and his Hula Hoop.

About gfiorelli1 —
Gianluca Fiorelli loves to be known as father of two wonderful sons and luckily married to a great wife. He's a professional SEO, who will always consider himself an eternal student. He's a Strategic SEO & Web Marketing Consultant operating in the Italian SEO market , but he operates also internationally - offering International SEO Consulting with IloveSEO.net. You can find Gianluca on Google+ and Twitter.

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Comments
76

I know this might sound crazy, but I'm bullish on the SEO industry long term primarily because I think we won't all need to be Da Vinci or Superman. Email marketing grew as an industry as it became accessible to those without the ability to write code, manage listservs, bypass spam & firewalls, negotiate whitelists, etc. I think SEO will be the same - when the tools, software, education and standards exist to let anyone with a dedicated mission and a decent mind engage, we'll become a more mature, respected and size-appropriate industry.

It's insane that $2.5 billion might be spent on SEO this year (Forrester) compared to $20+ billion on paid search, which gets, according to Avinash Kaushik, 14% of the clicks to organic's 86%.

That said, I'm not sure who or what the role model might be at that time. I suspect that, like many other industries, different personality and focus types will idolize different traits and individuals. I'm certainly excited to see what happens, regardless :-)

True, that the tools, software and other SEO resources which are becoming abundant on the web now will make the the SEO process simple and more and more people would prefer the Do It your self SEO way for promoting their websites.

SEO as we all know has been a very helpful marketing tool for the SMEs and it has given them a chance to have a global reach and platform which other wise was next to impossible considering the costs of traditional ways of international marketing.

But, inspite of the SEO process becoming more and more open and simple in the coming future, SEO unlike email marketing will surely retain its niche as SEO makes the prospective buyer come to your product as a result of search whereas in email marketing we make the product reach the prospective buyer.

Email marketing is like cold calling or shooting in the dark where as SEO is targeted shooting.

Moreover SEO depends on the science of search and the search engine algorithms which keep on changing. This constant upgradation in the Search engine algorithms and the constant research by the search engines to come up with qualitative search results will keep the SEO task constantly challenging and ever evolving.

The only thing that might change is the market share of the search engines and it will be the survival of the fittest.

We as SEOs will continue upgrading ourselves with the changing and challenging algorithms and tune ourselves according to the changing search patterns of the searchers.

I too think that in the future all those ones who will decide to do something serious with their online presence will be able to follow the SEO best practices helped by tools etc.. Somehow is already possible right now.

But that doesn't exclude the Renaissance theory, on the contrary I believe it is a premise to the online engagement . As I was writing, I don't pretend to be Leonardo (it would be foolish), but yes I pretend to myself to be leonardesque, because IMO it's the right state of mind in order to have the correct look to the web industry and therefore to SEO.

Finally, about the investments. I suppose that in the future there will be more equilibrium between the two:

because already now in order to PPC well you are obliged to look at the SEO state of your landing pages and site (Quality score of Adwords)

because, going back to your "vision", SEO will be more affordable thanks to tools, software, education ad standards.

I totally agree - we should all be reaching for the stars and striving for something we'll likely never achieve. I'm a huge believer in pushing myself to be better every day and think hard about whether each decision is the right one.

I'm very excited that there's other people who feel the same way - I know that can't be everyone and I recognize that true scale won't be accomplished in the SEO field without more accessibility, but it's still admirable to attempt a great degree of multi-disciplinary competence. I wish I could speak/write two more languages like you Gianluca!

I think SEO will be the same - when the tools, software, education and standards exist to let anyone with a dedicated mission and a decent mind engage

I agree with the point you make Rand as far as SEO. Even CMS systems are starting to do a decent job with on-page. And as knowledge sharing continues (SEOmoz as a prime example)it will be easier to "get it right" for the bulk of SEO.

But I see it unfolding differently with all the other factors, to whit, Analytics, Conversion Optimisation, Usability, and even Web Design. These are all disciplines in and of themselves. They are complex and take a fair amount of "art" thrown in with the "science" to accomplish well.

And while there are many that specialise, I totally agree with Gianluca in that there is a place for the da Vinciesque among us that keep our hand in each of the disciplines.

And like Indiana Jones, when it comes to SEO, beware the poisonous flying darts! ...well, that and the snakes.

Great post. I always love the theoretical ones. More and more, I'm involved with the management and operations side of SEO than the pure client side.

So I'm focused more on laying the framework and guiding methodologies than the in the trenches...though still deep in the trenches here and there to keep from being too removed. So I love to bounce around these kinds of thoughts.

I think it is interesting how on one hand SEO is falling more under the overall umbrella that is Marketing, but on the other hand, it is extremely unique in the wide crossover of knowledge and skills that you touch on.

Perhaps as the industry grows and agencies get bigger and the knowledge becomes so specialized, then so too will the individual focus. To some extent I think that is inevitable, but I think SEO's are always going to want to have at least some foundation of knowledge that cuts across all these areas.

Perhaps by our vary nature, we ourselves will dictate that, pushing ourselves to at the very least, be able to understand if not "master" art, science, creativity, engineering, business, and communication.

If anything, it presents the opportunity for today's SEO's to lead the future organizations, hopefully because we do have such a breadth of knowledge that may not be as common in the future.

Which makes me think...maybe the role model for the SEO of tomorrow depends on who you are as an SEO today.

Ultimately, what I think dictates success, is not just understanding what your role is, but what your role is right NOW...this second, this scenario, this circumstance, this client, this engagement, this agency...real success comes from surveying and identifying the needs of the situation, and then being adept enough to adapt enough in a way that makes things happen that make the difference.

I too believe that by nature an SEO - talking here as the individual - tends to digg and discover correlations between things... and that's what makes him potentially a renaissance kind of man, and even though eventually he will specialize is specializing on one particular field of SEO it will is important for him to have is mindset wide open to all the components of web marketing.

And, as said by the quote at the beginning of the post ("The future is now"), I cannot but agree with your last sentence. The title of the post was somehow 'provocative', talking of a future that is already here.

I think our roles adapt monthly and have expanded greatly in the last 3-4 years.

I think in very near future people should be concerned with being educated and focused on the Sociology and Psychology side of creating online trust, conversion and sales is crucial. My company has focused on this heavily in the last 18 months and seen fantastic results for our clients.

Also, focusing on how with targeted marketing both online and off you can change how your target audience searches.

I agree with you about focus on Sociology and Psychology. If they were important once, now are they are even more due to the influence of Social Media and the clearfact that UGC content is one of the key for having success online.

Interesting the focus merge between offline and online marketing related to target audience searches. If possible, could you give us an example of this?

A really enjoyable read and I couldn't agree more with your points, particularly the notion that our profession (or discipline) is continually widening its reach into new arts and sciences. I loved the visuals (I didn't know about that Greenlight post), and I think it totally ricks that your interest in history stems from watching Raiders of the Lost Ark!!

Thanks Richard... and - as probably many of my generation (40 & something) - Harrison Ford characters (Indy, Han Solo and the Deckard of Blade Runner) made us desiring being adventurers and SEO is surely a discipline for adventurers.

I think that we may actually go the opposite direction, like most disciplines over time. That is, we'll specialize - we'll have local SEO experts, niche (industry) SEO experts, onsite SEO experts, linkbuilding experts, etc. As the skillset gets more complex, the roles will naturally diverge.

I also think more and more SEOs will move into CRO or related fields, and we may see some hybrids created in the in-between space.

It's real, we are going to see a bigger specialization as you say. But on the other hand it will be even more important to have someone in the Agency who will be able, because of knowledge and proven skills, to see a web marketing campaign in its complexity, as taking a vision from above or, using another figure, as being a director of orchestra able to coordinate even more all the soloists.

If not, the risk should be a "miopic"approach, in my opinion.

About a fusion between SEO and CRO, I think it's something we are already seeing (and you could testify it), as it's something that clients themselves are asking more and more everyday.

It's actually funny that I made that argument, because usually I'm the one advocating generalists :) I completely agree - some people will naturally specialize and others will need to see the big picture. We'll even have people who essentially specialize in SEO project management (I think we're already seeing this).

I don't think it's hypocritical, simply logical. As far as an industry is getting bigger and "less artisan" it is normal to see a bigger specialization inside the industry.

But, that confirms the basic notion the lays behind my post that SEO, as a complex of web marketing tactics, is far from going to die. All the contrary: it's absorbing other disciplines while permeating itself with all their caractestics. The example of SEO and CRO it's maybe the most evident right now.

As a kid I always wanted to be like Leonardo too (the Ninja Turtle). You make a great point! SEO is becoming so much more than changing this, tweaking that, getting a link from this guy, etc. I think you are right that we are coming into a Renaissance, but I think it is more of a broader information Renaissance. Things are changing quicker than ever. Who would have thought a few years ago that I could touch the screen of my phone in Target, say two words and have a detailed map to Old Navy for a little old lady (true story by the way).

The Renaissance changed so much about how people thought, how buildings were constructed (think HTML5), etc. This is also true of current times. At this moment, we have access to more information than any generation before us. Heck, we can see a live feed of the oil leak a mile below the surface of the Atlantic.

The main problem now can become how to deal with all this information, especially in our field and we are obliged to put so many topics under our own radar.

Maybe, and this can be another analogy with Renaissance, the solution - more than Academies or Universities - has to be found in what were called "le scuole" (the ateliers), where young artists were working under the orders of the main artist of the scuola. Therefore, I think that mentoring in the SEO field is going to be even more important than it is actually.

There are "elements" of my expertise that can be traced to a traditional education. The "nuances and art" of my methods and strategies can be traced to mentors. Universities can disconent knowledge from current examples (tenure will do that to you), while mentors can work side by side (for more than 4 years).

Dealing with the massive information overload is what I've been struggling with lately. On one hand, I need to focus on the business. On the other hand I need to stay current with the present, ever changing state of affairs.

I wish their were an easy answer for how to maintain a healthy balance. Either that or I wish I had 38 hours in each day.

Wow, I suddenly feel like such a newbie in the SEO industry after seeing that the first SEO conference was held back in 1999 when I was about 14!

Some great points Gianluca, I think that the skillset required to carry out good SEO is getting bigger all the time. I've noticed a much bigger focus on the analytics side of things as well as more focus on conversion rate optimisation from SEOs.

It used to be a case of doing on-site and off-site SEO, now you need to look deeper than that if you want to be successful in the long term.

Thanks for pointing me to that post G. I never read it before and it was a great post. I love those "Business of SEO" types of posts. Between sly-grr's points and some of the comments, I've got some material that I'm already working on incorporating into my own spiel.

First of all, thanks for reading my post... I'm glad that you find it useful and my idea of SEO interesting.

What I truly think, is that SEO has to be an Art in the most complete sense of the word. Art is not apart from technique, and technique means to have a solid knowledge of the reasons is better to do one thing than another or why some thing causes another. But it cannot be just technique, or it will be simply a well done stuff that does not stand up front the mass. That was the difference between Mozart and Salieri, between Leonardo and any other painter.

Firstly, that is a great graphic timeline of SEO from Greenlight. I had never seen it before. I will be printing that and posting it on my office wall lest I be a victim of George Santayana's famous quote "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it."

Secondly, the role of the SEO will not contract, but expand. As you look at how the columns of diversity in signals that currently affect a website have increased as time went on, I think it will only grow more. I see the SEO role growing into a Business Advisor as so many disciplines of the business will need to be understood- on site seo, anchor text, user signals. I see User Signals being a larger signal as it is crowdsourced validation of information.

Welcome back to YOUmoz Gianluca! Another thought provoking post. I echo the sentiments above re: the excellent timeline chart. I took the time to read each entry and it was a real blast from the past.

While reading it I was reminded of when Google first came out and I kept trying to get my coworkers to switch to it from their favorite meta-search tool that had some kind of squirrel name or logo.

I totally agree with your observations of the current state of SEO being more of a Renaissance man (or woman)kind of thing these days.

It's both a Science and an Art Form rolled into one package. Given the SEO, Web Design, Usability, Conversion Optimization and Analytics knowledge needed, you really have to be multi-faceted to succeed.

I think you're right on with this post. SEO is becoming an entry way to a myriad of other services that businesses need to succeed online. The sum of all these services equals successfully building efficient and effective conversion paths online that are profitable to operate.

It was good to see the timeline and go back in the SEO history for sometime.

Surely the very fact that the factors influencing SEO are increasing it clearly shows the importance this branch of marketing is getting from the web marketing industry as a whole and it also shows how qualitatively it is evlolving.

As I think it is because of SEO only the searcher gets the unbiased results for what he is searching on the web and search engines are the only platform where he gets these results.

Which search engine dominates or has a greater market share may vary from time to time. Once upon a time it was Altavista, today it is Google tomorrow it may be some other search engine.

SEO is the future of web marketing and eventually only patience and perseverance do pay.

I wouldn't agree more... and infact the post was practically saying the same.

I think that SEO is going to be somehow a "philosophy", a methodology which is based on "science" (the best practices, the repeatable experiments as the ones Rand and SEOmoz share so much with us, the facts of development) and "art" as more and more the SERPs and what will be considered relevant will be decided by the Users of the Web themselves... In this sense the metaphore of a well done SEO campaign as a masterpiece painting can be true, because the art of a Leonardo is possible only due a big scientific knowledge (perspective, light, color psicology, creation of the material) and pure creativity (the content, of any kind).

I'm a bit late to the party, but regardless of the trend in specialisation that Pete, Tom, Rand et al discuss above, I can definitely tell you that I would hire a modern da Vinci. I think the ability to see problems from an engineering perspective is awesome when you get it coupled with marketing awareness.

That's sure. "Rara avis" (a rare bird) were saying the latins to describe someone like the "Da Vinci" kind of professional you describe.

But if you have the luck to find him you have the obligation to try to have him with you.

On the other hand, I substantially agree with the specialization theory. What somehow scares me, is that specialization will lead to a compartmentalization of our profession, loosing the right perspective that SEO and Web Marketing, IMO, has to own.

Nice! Makes me think of the old days doing seo, and yes you can see the trend of quality SEO teams that are comprised of talented web developers/coders/designers/marketers today - Like the ODA team (sorry my mil background is showing - Operational Detach Alpha)
Bravo!